April 26, 2004

LAS VEGAS - The No. 17 UNLV women's golf team was chosen to compete in the East Regional, the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Committee announced Monday.

The Rebels return to the postseason after earning the Mountain West Conference's automatic berth with a victory at the conference tournament last weekend. The selection marks the second straight postseason appearance for the third-year program.

"We're very flattered to go back to postseason," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "We were expecting to go, so these last few weeks was more of a wait to see where we would end up."

Unlike last year, the Rebels have been shipped to the East Regional this year, which will be played at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

"We would have like to have been closer to home, but mostly, we are just excited to have a chance to try to advance to nationals," Ringler said.

The 54-hole tournament will begin on Thursday, May 6, and feature a single 18-hole round on each of three days. The top eight teams and two individuals will advance to the NCAA Championship, slated for Opelika, Ala., from May 18-21.

UNLV received the No. 5 seed in the East Region. Duke, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Wake Forest were seeded ahead of the Rebels, who checked in at No. 17 in the Monday edition of the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.

"The field in the East is very strong," added Ringler. "Duke is the No. 1 team in the country. Auburn is always strong. I believe we also are one of the strongest teams out there. We will focus on trying to beat those teams seeded near us and hopefully end up in the top eight."